Newsfeed
Turkish ultranationalists storm Armenian neighbourhoods in Istanbul as fighting rages in Nagorno-Karabakh
Author: Djamel Belayachi
Publication Date: 15/10/2020
Source: The Observers
Turkey’s Armenian community is becoming increasingly fearful about reprisals as fighting rages in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has the support of the Turkish government. On October 5, a convoy of Turkish ultra-nationalists stormed the Kurtulus neighborhood, home to a large Armenian population. Photos posted on Twitter show Azeri and Turkish flags draped on the roofs of their vehicles.
In the past few weeks, between 300 and 400 people have been killed in a flare-up in fighting over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought over for decades. Turkey has thrown its support behind Azerbaijan in the dispute. It’s in this climate of heightened tension that a group of Azeri supporters stormed Istanbul’s Kurtulus neighborhood, home to numerous Armenians.
In Egypt, Christians competing strongly for parliament seats
Author: Amr Emam
Publication Date: 10/10/2020
Source: Al-Monitor
The phone on the desk in front of Maged Talaat Ramzi does not stop ringing.
Every now and then, someone calls him to confirm support.
"I find support wherever I go," Ramzi told Al-Monitor. "People are able to differentiate between those who will defend their rights and those who give them lip service only."
Ramzi is one of dozens of Christian candidates running in the House of Deputies (lower chamber of parliament) elections, which will be held between Oct. 24 and Nov. 8.
Around 108 candidates are running within the four party lists contesting the 284 seats specified for the political parties in the parliament.
Dozens of other Christian candidates are running, among a total of 4,000 candidates, as independents, including Ramzi. They are contesting an additional 284 seats
The Coptic senator who became the Egyptian Senate's first female undersecretary
Publication Date: 20/10/2020
Source: Egypt Today
A Coptic woman from Ismailia was elected by the people to be a member in the Egyptian Senate, and was elected again inside the council to be its undersecretary.
It may have been expected that someone like Phoebe Fawzy, a Coptic woman who is not from Cairo, was appointed by the president to be in her position. But Fawzy of the People's Republic party was elected by the people twice to be the first woman and Coptic to occupy that position. She garnered 199 votes out of the 300 hundred members of the Senate.
Latest attack on Coptic Christians highlights religious violence in Egypt
Publication Date: 16/10/2020
Source: Crux Now
On October 5, 2020, a mob of Islamic extremists attacked the homes of Coptic Christians in the Egyptian village of Dabous, located in the Upper Egypt region of Minya.
According to International Christian Concern, two young Muslim adults beat up a ten-year old Coptic Christian child. Some Christian adults retaliated, triggering the attack the next day.
Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 100 million people, making the country home to the largest Christian population in the Arab world.
The vast majority of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, the largest Church in the Oriental Orthodox communion – However there are about 350,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians, 300,000 Protestants, and just under 200,000 Catholics.
Egypt licenses 100 churches, service buildings
Publication Date: 19/10/2020
Source: Ahram Online
A cabinet committee in charge of licensing churches operating without a permit has legalised the status of 45 churches and 55 service buildings since May, the cabinet’s spokesman, Nader Saad, said.
This brings the total number of churches and related service buildings legalised by the committee since its establishment in 2017 to 1,738, Saad added.
The announcement came during a meeting headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and attended by a number of state officials, including Minister of Justice Omar Marwan and Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy.
The officials have reviewed the status of churches and related buildings which have submitted requests for legalisation since the committee’s last meeting on 18 May, Saad said.
Maronite Patriarch: Negotiations over sea borders do not represent "normalization" of bilateral relations with Israel
Publication Date: 14/10/2020
Source: Agenzia Fides
The negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli delegates to determine the sea borders between Lebanon and Israel cannot necessarily be interpreted as the beginning of the normalization of relations between the two Countries, which have never formally revoked the state of war.
Ninth anniversary of Maspero Massacre
Publication Date: 17/10/2020
Source: Middle East Monitor
Today marks the ninth anniversary since the Maspero Massacre, when over 20 Copts were murdered in front of the Egyptian state TV headquarters by Egyptian military personnel.
On 9 October 2011 Copts marched to the Maspero television building to protest against the authorities’ failure to hold the people who attack churches in the country accountable.
The peaceful march was spurred on after a recent burning of a church in Aswan.
Beirut, young Christians and Muslims: the thread of hope
Author: Pierre Balanian
Publication Date: 8/10/2020
Source: AsiaNews
Thousands of young people are busy clearing the city of debris and rubble; they help elderly people to survive; they offer water and food paying with their own money or collected from friends and relatives. Young Syrian refugees also join in efforts. A Syrian Protestant pastor, a Muslim who converted to Christianity, offers sandwiches and bottles of water to the displaced.
Coptic art adorns Cairo’s historic mosques
Author: Hani Sameer
Publication Date: 17/10/2020
Source: Al-Monitor
Islamic art is not the product of one country or one people, writes Tharwat Okasha in his book, “The Encyclopedia of Islamic Photography.” Rather, it is the merger of the arts of several civilizations that flourished before Islam, including the Persian, Roman and Byzantine civilizations, due to the geographical expansion of the Islamic state.
Mukhtar al-Kasbani, a professor of Islamic and Coptic antiquities at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor, “Religious tolerance in Egypt instilled harmony between religion and art. Egyptian rulers had focused on the competences and skills of artists or architects without discrimination based on religion. This prompted Muslim architects to learn the decorative features of Coptic art. They subsequently developed these stylistic features and gave them an Islamic identity, turning them into what became known as Islamic art.”
Holy Land economy on its knees as pilgrimages stop because of COVID-19
Publication Date: 22/10/2020
Source: AsiaNews
For the first time in 1,600 years, no pilgrims have come to the Holy Land. The losses reach a total of US$ 320 million. Tourism-related activities support 10,300 families. For expert opinion, the situation is worse than during the intifada. We need an overall plan for after the crisis that also involves the dioceses in the world.
